Trains moving again on South Shore Line

Staff report

Trains are running again on the South Shore Line after a derailment in Michigan City fouled up most of the morning commute.

The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District said it expected normal westbound service to resume with the No. 14 train scheduled to leave South Bend at 8:48 a.m. and arrive in Chicago’s Millennium station at 10:28 a.m. That train was expected to be running about 15-20 minutes late.

The eastbound No. 7 train scheduled to depart Chicago at 8:45 a.m. and arrive in South Band at 12:45 p.m. was running about 30 minutes late.

No injuries were reported from the derailment, which caused the cancellation of six rush hour trains, according to the NICTD website. All trains scheduled to arrive in Chicago after 6:40 a.m. were affected.

The rear car derailed on the second train out of Carroll Avenue in Michigan City – the No. 104 scheduled to leave at 4:55 a.m. and arrive in Chicago at the Millennium station at 6:38 a.m., according to NICTD spokesman John Parsons. The car that derailed was the last car on an 8-car train that was just moving into position to board passengers. The front wheels of that car left the track.

There were six other trains in the Michigan City yard waiting for their turn in the morning rush hour rollout, Parsons said, and only two trains were west of Michigan City and available to handle passengers. Both of those ran on a modified morning schedule into Chicago, Parsons said.

Parsons said that the NICTD brought in a company that specializes in re-railing cars in situations like that and that the derailed car was back on the tracks. But the tracks themselves have to be checked for damage before trains can start moving toward Chicago.

The agency said Metra Electric trains would honor South Shore tickets this morning. The two lines share tracks in the southern part of the city, and South Shore passengers in some Indiana communities might be able to make it to some south suburban Metra Electric stations to make their commute, Parsons said.

Parsons said that the South Shore Line carries about 4,500 passengers on any given morning.